Man City vs Barcelona Femeni live score: Women’s Champions League result, updates, stats from huge group-stage showdown
Manchester City are back in the UEFA Women’s Champions League group phase and face holders Barcelona on Wednesday, October 9, in a mouthwatering Group D opener.
Each club has players on their staff who have played for the other with distinction, most notable Barca’s childhood City fan Keira Walsh, but there is no doubt that the Blaugrana are Europe’s dominant force, constantly setting and pushing the standard in the women’s game.
City captain Alex Greenwood hailed Pere Romeu’s side as “the best in the world” at her pre-match press conference.
The England defender added: “They’re the champions for a reason and we’ll massively respect Barcelona, but, for us, it’s the same as always — we’ll respect our opponent, but we’ll try to bring our game and impose ourselves on them.”
The Sporting News is following the Man City Women vs. Barcelona Femeni match live, providing live updates and commentary
Latest live updates | Team news and lineups | Where to watch where you are
Man City vs. Barcelona Femeni score
1st Half | Goal scorers | |
Man City | 1 | Layzell 36′ |
Barcelona | 0 |
Venue: Joie Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Stephanie Frappart (France)
Lineups:
Man City (4-3-3, right to left): 31. Yamashita (GK) — 3. Layzell, 4. Aleixandri, 5. Greenwood, 18. Casparij — 16. Park, 25. Hasegawa, 6. Miedema — 8. Fowler, 21. Shaw, 11. Hemp
Barcelona (4-3-3, right to left): 13. Coll (GK) — 22. Batlle, 23. Engen, 4. Leon, 16. Rolfo — 14. Bonmati, 21. Walsh, 12. Patri — 10. Graham Hansen, 17. Pajor, 11. Putellas
MORE: Who has won most UEFA Women’s Champions League titles? | When is the 2025 UWCL final?
Man City vs. Barcelona Femeni live updates, highlights, and commentary
45 mins+2: More ragged, hurried play out from the back from Barca gives Fowler a shooting chance. The Australia star blazes over from outside the box. City really should be more than 1-0 up here.
45 mins: There’ll be two minutes added on at the end of what has been pulsating first half.
42 mins: Barca’s first attack of note for a while, Graham Hansen down the right channel. She drills goalwards but Yamashita is behind it.
39 mins: Shaw down receiving treatment. Taylor will hope that’s nothing serious because his striker has given City an X-factor here.
38 mins: Almost 2-0! Shaw shrugs off Walsh and Bonmati. Miedema into the box and Batlle makes a vital last-ditch block. Barca really on the ropes here.
36 mins: GOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!! Naomi Layzell!!!
Oh no, it’s a nightmare for Coll. This corner is only happening because of her wonderful save but she gets horrible caught under the ball, Miedema nods back across goal and Layzell slides home her first goal for City who have a deserved lead.
35 mins: Fabulous save from Coll! City pick Barca apart with a wonderful one and two-touch move down the left. Miedema tees up Park but Coll make a fabulous reaction save.
32 mins: Fowler’s radar is unusually off as she clatters the free-kick way over Shaw and everyone else.
30 mins: Leon brings down a rampaging Shaw on the left. The Barca defender is anguished over her resulting yellow card but there can’t really be any legitimate complaints.
28 mins: Sublime play from Fowler, switching play to the left. Coll claims Hemp’s cross unfussily.
23 mins: Shaw turns on the edge of the area. Shot deflected behind. Not everything she’s done has come off but Barca don’t look like they can handle City’s centre-forward with any conviction. The corner comes to nought.
21 mins: Back come City as Park pulls out to the right and sends in a doozy of a cross that Miedema can’t get on the end of. It’s been a superb start from the hosts but it’s hard to imagine them not paying for failing to make these opportunities count.
19 mins: ALEIXANDRI OFF THE LINE! City make a complete mess of things at the back and Pajor bundles the ball off Yamashita. The angle is against here but it still looks like a certain goal before Aleixandri has other ideas and scrambles to safety.
⛔ Laia Aleixandri coming out of nowhere to prevent Barcelona’s opener!
Watch live for free on DAZN ▶️ https://t.co/dIfKpURfZv #UWCL #UWCLonDAZN pic.twitter.com/E1cjpYWpZM
— DAZN Women’s Football (@DAZNWFootball) October 9, 2024
16 mins: HEMP HITS THE POST! City really should be ahead. Fowler stuns a glorious pass in behind for Shaw. The Jamaica striker opts against shooting and her cutback is behind Meidema. It runs to Hemp who thumps against the upright. In truth, her teammates should have capitalised upon that opportunity before the ball came her way.
14 mins: Shaw causing damage down the Barcelona left. Miedema on the end of the cutback and her shot is blocked. Barca look to take the attack up the other end but Aleixandri hacks Putellas down and is booked.
13 mins: Wonderful first-touch from Putellas. It means the ball sits up to be hit. She strikes it well enough but it’s straight at Yamashita.
12 mins: Coll under pressure again and can only boot it to Greenwood. Clearly a ploy from City. Now Hemp into the area and she’s penalised a little harshly for a foul on Batlle.
9 mins: Hemp picks Graham Hansen’s pocket but her pass for Shaw is off the mark. Not for the first time, City undermine some tenacious play by looking for their striker far roo easily. Looking to knock Barca out of their stride is laudable but that will become impossible if they don’t take better care of the ball.
8 mins: Corner to City, which is delayed because there’s some faffing going on in the Barca box. Hemp floats it to the back post, where Miedema is penalised for foul.
6 mins: Shaw almost presser Barca goalkeeper Col into an error. It allows City to stay on the attack. Shaw can’t get the ball out of her feet before Park has a shot blocked bravely by Leon.
4 mins: City commit bodies to the attack and right-back Layzell turns over possession. Here’s Graham Hansen for Barca, she exchanges passes with Putellas and rattles a shot against the outside of the near post!
Kickoff: 1st Half
Barcelona get us underway. City press their opponents high from kickoff. That will be a bold, high-risk approach if they keep it up.
4 mins before kickoff: Here come the team, entering the sold-out arena. This really should be a cracker.
15 mins before kickoff: Tonight’s game is being played at the Joie Stadium, which sits adjacent to the Etihad Stadium and is part of the City Football Academy in east Manchester. The 7,000-capacity venue is sold out with Barca in town.
In the house! 🩵#ManCity | #UWCL pic.twitter.com/Rm62jCnX3a
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) October 9, 2024
30 mins before kickoff: In Wednesday’s other game in Group D, Hammarby were 2-0 winners over St Polten. Elsewhere, Bayern Munich ran out 5-2 winners in a thriller against City’s WSL counterparts Arsenal. The game in Munich was locked at 2-2 heading towards the final quarter of an hour before Pernille Harder fired a 13-minute hat-trick.
🤩 PERNILLE HARDTRICK !
Watch live for free on DAZN ▶️ https://t.co/dIfKpURfZv #UWCL #UWCLonDAZN pic.twitter.com/mpXjsml5zv
— DAZN Women’s Football (@DAZNWFootball) October 9, 2024
40 mins before kickoff: City boss Gareth Taylor has been speaking to his club’s official website before kickoff
I think they [the players] are like we all are – excited and looking forward to the challenge ahead of us. It’s great to be back in the Champions League and we’re aware our objective was to get to this point and the next objective now is to progress into the next stage. That starts tonight and it’s a tough opponent, but one we’re really excited facing.
“It’s hard to say [how the match will play out]. It’s going to be interesting to see who dominates the spaces. Hopefully if we don’t have the ball we can get it back quickly, I think that’s going to be important. That’s not always going to be possible but I think we can cause them problems when we have the ball. Let’s see, it’s a difficult one to predict.
1 hour before kickoff: The teams are in. Mary Fowler is a surprise starter in attack for City alongside Lauren Hemp and Bunny Shaw, while it looks like Alexia Putellas will be in the Barca front three, with Patri Guijarro joining former City hero Keira Walsh and the peerless Aitana Bonmati in midfield.
Tonight’s team news! ⭐️
XI | Yamashita, Layzell, Aleixandri, Greenwood (C), Miedema, Fowler, Hemp, Park, Casparij, Shaw, Hasegawa
SUBS | Keating, Startup, Coombs, Kelly, Roord, Kennedy, Ouahabi, Blindkilde Brown, Fujino, Prior, Thomas, Murphy#ManCity | #UWCL pic.twitter.com/hLpmJm0xmZ
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) October 9, 2024
🚨 BARÇA XI 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Q85xuVco7h
— FC Barcelona Femení (@FCBfemeni) October 9, 2024
1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: There’s no question City are up against it tonight versus a team that have won each of the past two Champions Leagues and three of the past four. The one they didn’t win saw Lyon beat them in the final. However, the last time these teams met on this stage, City were 2-1 winners. There’s a sizeable caveat: Barca progressed from that 2021 tie having won the first leg 3-0.
2 hours before kickoff. Hello and welcome to the UEFA Women’s Champions League Group D clash between Manchester City and Barcelona. Gareth Taylor’s WSL side have not featured in the competition proper since 2020/21, and they could not have asked for a tougher assignment first up.
Man City vs. Barcelona Femeni kick off time
This UEFA Women’s Champions League match kicks off in Manchester at 8 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
Date | Kickoff time | |
USA | Wed, Oct 9 | 3 p.m. ET |
Canada | Wed, Oct 9 | 3 p.m. ET |
UK | Wed, Oct 9 | 8 p.m. BST |
Australia | Thu, Oct 10 | 6 a.m. AEDT |
India | Thu, Oct 10 | 12 a.m. IST |
Watch every match of the 2024/25 UEFA Women’s Champions League LIVE through DAZN.
Man City vs. Barcelona Femeni lineups, team news
Star striker Bunny Shaw starts for City. The Jamaica international appeared as a second-half substitute during the 2-0 WSL victory over West Ham following a groin complaint.
Jess Park missed out on that game with a foot injury, but it was a memorable weekend for Jill Roord who made her first start in nine months following an ACL injury. Park starts in headline summer signing Vivianne Miedema in midfield. Roord is on the bench alongside England forward Chloe Kelly after Mary Fowler got the nod in attack.
Man City (4-3-3, right to left): Yamashita (GK) — Layzell, Aleixandri, Greenwood, Casparij — Park, Hasegawa, Miedema — Fowler, Shaw, Hemp
Man City subs: Keating (GK), Startup (GK), Coombs, Kelly, Roord, Kennedy, Ouahabi, Brown, Fujino, Prior, Thomas, Murphy
Barcelona boss Pere Romeu shuffled his pack against Madrid CFF at the weekend but was forced to bring some of the big guns into action when their rivals led 1-0 at the interval.
Alexia Putellas, Claudia Pina, Fridolina Rolfo, Irene Paredes and Ona Batlle all came off the bench to inspire a monstrous 8-1 win. Putellas starts in the front three tonight, with Batlle and Rolfo in their familiar full-back positions.
This game comes too soon for forward Salma Paralluelo but former City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck has a place on the bench.
Barcelona (4-3-3, right to left): Coll (GK) — Batlle, Engen, Leon, Rolfo — Bonmati, Walsh, Patri — Graham Hansen, Pajor, Putellas
Barcelona subs: Gemma (GK), Roebuck (GK), Paredes, Jana Fernandez, Torrejon, Pina, Nazareth, Lopez, Martina Fernandez, Brugts, Cano
Man City vs. Barcelona Femeni live stream, TV channel
Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions:
United States:
- TV channel: —
- Live stream: DAZN
Canada:
- TV channel: —
- Live stream: DAZN
UK:
- TV channel: TNT Sports 1
- Live stream: discovery+, DAZN